Volume 2, Chapter 2 - Holding the Virtual Space: The Roles and Responsibilities of Community Stewardship

Abstract

As educational leaders turn increasingly to virtual Communities of Practice in the design, implementation and management of educational programs, the issue of how to design, launch and support them arises. This chapter examines how one governmental education department provided support for a virtual Community of Practice over a three-year period. Through the use of a team that stewarded the knowledge and the community, this virtual community engaged over four hundred educational leaders, administrators and instructors in creating, capturing and disseminating the knowledge necessary to develop and advance education programs for adults seeking high school equivalency diplomas. Based on this experience, the roles and responsibilities of these stewards are defined and described. This chapter also identifies the balances needed between competing factors of community and knowledge, members and organizations, and ownership and time demands in order to hold a space for the members to do their work. Finally, some lessons learned are offered.